Poster

The introduction of PBL in a Japanese graduate school university as an essential curriculum for Master Program of Information Systems Architecture

Yoshio Tozawa

School of Industrial Technology, Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology, Tokyo, Japan [email protected]

Abstract
Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology, a public graduate school university, was established on April, 2006, in Tokyo, Japan. Students get the degree of Master of Technology in Information Systems after completion of the program. The new university is expected to introduce new education method so that students can get competencies which work in a real business environment. It is generally regarded that graduates of Japanese universities in IT areas do not have enough skills to work right away, though there are many debates between industrial people and university people. Demand of highly skilled IT people is increasing in Japan. Japanese IT industry managements look at Project Based Learning as an effective method for students to learn practical skills. When the curriculum was designed for the new university, PBL was positioned as the essential program for education. Target students are day-time workers. Students take lectures in the first year, and they devote themselves in PBL in the second year. The first projects of PBL started in April, 2007 and completed in Feb. 2008. As we do not have reference cases in Japan, everything had to be newly designed for conducting PBL. This report describes the challenges, issues and our solutions.

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark
Poster

Introducing Engineering Students to Open Distance Learning - a case study on the acceptance of a virtual course as compulsory subject

A. Weckenmann
T. Werner

Chair Quality Management and Manufacturing Metrology, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, 91052 Erlangen, Germany ([email protected])

Abstract
The ability and readiness to participate in Life Long Learning constitutes an important factor of sustainable employability. Yet, the course of engineering studies often features only conventional methods of learning. By a case study on the acceptance of the virtual course QTeK by obligated and voluntary participants, obstacles to Life Long Learning arising of this organisation of education in universities are visualised. The example shows that students inexperienced with new forms of learning are restricted in their capability to participate in innovative qualification offers. The experiences therefore suggest the introduction of eLearning offers into the compulsory curriculum together with a proper preparation of the students, in order to familiarise them with different methodologies for learning, thus imparting an indispensable key competence to involve in Life Long Learning processes.

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark
Poster

Strategies for Progressing through Engineering

A.S. Blicblau
J.P. van der Walt

Swinburne University of Technology, Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia 3122 ([email protected])

Abstract
Entering university courses is often based on a single score or percentile ranking obtained at the end of high school. For entrance into university engineering courses the situation is complicated because many of these faculties have to accept students with lower entrance scores than recommended to fill quotas. Historically, students with borderline entrance scores have shown great difficulty during their first year in the engineering degree program. The challenge which faces many universities is that of balancing students’ performance in first year, where subjects are familiar from their high school experience, with minimising the shock which will await them when commencing second year, where their subjects are engineering based often with industrial applications. At Swinburne University of Technology, a system of learning strategies has been tried to improve student success in their studies during their second year. Students were directed to analyse, ponder, and evaluate class problems in a real-world manner. Project work was utilised to encapsulate as much of the subject material into a single meaningful engineering task.

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark
Poster

Development of Elite Programmes at Aalborg University

O. Andersen

Department of Electronic Systems, Aalborg University, Denmark ([email protected])

Abstract
The Commission of European Communities concluded in a report from 2005 that “knowledge, research, skills and education will be the currency of success in the face of globalization” and that there should be support for excellence in European universities. This paper gives examples from Europe and the United States on higher educations tailored to challenge the most talented and motivated students. Further details are provided on the current situation in Denmark, where the government has decided to support the development of highly specialised elite programmes at the master level. Aalborg University was able to respond to this challenge as the first university in Denmark as the problem-based learning concept characterizing the university proved well-suited as a general framework for elite-programmes. This framework is described in details and results from a survey conducted among the elite students are reported. Many of the objectives of the programmes such as involving the students in research and having them to contribute actively are met. Students have been able to submit journal papers and patent applications. More importantly, up to 84% of the elite students are potentially interested in pursuing a career in academia.

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark
Poster

The value of introducing, and linking, sustainability and professional ethics as formative themes within engineering projects.

Roger Penlington

School of Computing, Engineering and Information Sciences & Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning - Assessment for Learning. Northumbria University. UK

Abstract
Projects are widely used at the later stages of an engineering degree programme as a means developing abilities within, and of assessing many of, the graduate attributes described by standards for professional registration such as the Engineering Council UK’s UK-SPEC. Such standards require graduates to understand and apply a range of new and advancing technologies in creative and innovative problem solving for engineering solutions. This is to be shown whilst also expecting a demonstration of supporting and leading group working in well managed research and development projects which also recognise the need to act responsibly and contribute to sustainable development. Discussion of the scope for the teaching of sustainable development through embedding within the curriculum or as a ‘bolt-on’ addition has taken place and examples of both approaches have been evaluated. The case for embedding sustainable development appears to become more widely favoured and a growing range of resources are now available to support the engineering academic. This paper will introduce the opportunities for curriculum development and enhanced learning through an extension of the embedding and linking of sustainable development and professional ethics within project based learning. Such an approach also opens up opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and experience of the real problems engineers encounter in practice, balancing the interaction between engineering, the environment and society. One acknowledged challenge with introducing learning at the interface of engineering and society is that if definitions and the complexity of open ended problems. But such problems are ideally suited to situations where the learner must establish their own definitions as they link and order their ideas and knowledge. Such learning presents many opportunities for assessment to support learning both formatively and summatively with many parallels with the assessment of creativity given by Cowan as an audit of self-assessment, goal setting and reflection upon learning as the learner develops their ability to present for final assessment what they claim to be good at. The engineering curriculum is through necessity strongly rooted in developing technological solutions to problems, to ‘bolt-on’ either sustainability or ethics would only add a weakly supported social or environmental appendage. To link and embed the employability of graduates can only be enhanced as their learning seeks to nurture a seamless interface between engineering and society

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark
Poster

REDESIGNING THE CURRICULUM OF COMPUTER ENGINEERING BASED ON COMPETENCIES IN THE NEW EUROPEAN CONTEXT, NEW LEARNING METHODS

M.A. Rubio
R. Schmal

Department of Mathematics. Polytechnic School, University of Extremadura, Spain. Campus Universitario, 10.001 Cáceres. [email protected] School of Computer and Economics Engineering, Faculty of Economics, University of Talca. Casa Central 2 Norte 685, Talca, Chile

Abstract
In response to the institutional and organisational changes in Spanish University context, we determined that a fundamental redesign of the computer engineer curriculum was necessary with the purpose of implementing new learning and teaching methods in the new European context. We faced the new task of educating professionals in the technologies and methods will serve their career needs and the institutional and organizational requirements. An experimental evaluation was organised along two last academic years, for students of the Polytechnics School of Computer Engineering in the University of Extremadura. We embarked on redesigning the curriculum of our students. Our educational goal is to design a curriculum based on competencies that reflects the current competency standards of these fields and provides working professionals with quality education that helps them to improve their professional competences. We adopted the IPT competencies (Institutional Performance Technology). We provide theoretical and practical information about the underlying characteristics of competencies and the process of developing and applying competencies to curriculum design. This paper describes the philosophy and the objectives that Polytechnics School has been working in order to propose a new computer engineer curriculum based on competencies and focus on new teaching and learning methodologies.

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SEFI 36th Annual Conference July 2 - July 5 2008 / Aalborg, Denmark